Any reason why the puck is so hard and heavy?

When I played floor / street hockey, we used an orange ball that was hard enough to have little bounce but light enough to not require protective equipment. Do there exists similar hollow-core plastic pucks so that players without equipment can play safely?

I realize that even with those softer pucks, we probably have to wear full gear to protect against collisions & sticks.

I've played insane amounts of shinny hockey with normal pucks and no protective gear (generally just gloves, skates, stick), and nobody ever got hurt. You just don't raise the puck. When you play truly competitive hockey, hard shots in traffic tend to go hand in hand with hustle, physicality, etc., so you need gear anyways because you'll be hitting the ice/boards decently often. Once you get used to hockey pucks, the weight just feel "right" for puck handling, passing, shooting, etc. I'd imagine a light puck would bounce a lot more, especially when the ice gets all chopped up and snowy.

I have a plastic puck (not sure where I got it) that is basially the same orange, hollow plastic as a road hockey ball, but in puck shape. But it's useless on anything but a frictionless surface (ice, maybe a smooth gym floor). With the light weight and puck shape, all it wants to do is flip up on end anytime it starts moving.

They use them here at rec centers for young kids/tots to play pond/ice hockey. Anything more than that and it's just more frustrating than a ball or real puck.

There are "lighter" blue pucks, but never used one. They are only 4oz, compared to black ones that are 6oz.

I've played insane amounts of shinny hockey with normal pucks and no protective gear (generally just gloves, skates, stick), and nobody ever got hurt. You just don't raise the puck. When you play truly competitive hockey, hard shots in traffic tend to go hand in hand with hustle, physicality, etc., so you need gear anyways because you'll be hitting the ice/boards decently often. Once you get used to hockey pucks, the weight just feel "right" for puck handling, passing, shooting, etc. I'd imagine a light puck would bounce a lot more, especially when the ice gets all chopped up and snowy.

Unfortunately, most "pond hockey" and shinny hockey places I've played at requires pretty much full gear. I guess it's a liability issue as newer skates don't have good control and can result in some significant collisions with each other.